Selective Service quietly overhauls military draft registration process — but will only US citizens be affected?

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act ratified by President Donald Trump in December is overhauling the draft registration process.

Under the new law, "every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, between the ages of 18 and 26" will be registered for the draft automatically. The previous policy required young men to self-register within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

'Undocumented immigrants are by definition not giving data.'

Craig Brown, the acting director of the Selective Service System since 2021, noted in a report earlier this year that automatic registration was among the top three transformational initiatives that his agency — which is tasked with registering men and maintaining a system that "rapidly provides manpower in a fair and just manner" — would pursue over the next five years.

Sure enough, the SSS submitted a proposed rule change to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30 titled "Automatic Registration."

Per the SSS, "This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources."

The SSS strategic plan notes that implementation will be executed in alignment with Trump's Executive Order 14243, which directed federal agency heads to ensure that federal officials "have full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems — or their equivalents if providing access to an equivalent dataset does not delay access — for purposes of pursuing administration priorities related to the identification and elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse."

It's presently unclear whether automation with improved inter-agency data-sharing and the Department of Homeland Security's boosted alien registration efforts will address the suspected under-registration of draft-eligible parolees, illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and asylum-seekers.

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The Oversight Project raised concerns last year about possible widespread criminal noncompliance by inadmissible aliens — concerns fueled in part by the absence of a surge in registrations during the Biden administration, according to data provided by the SSS to Congress.

These concerns were further fueled by documents hinting at an awareness behind the scenes at the SSS that the agency was failing to capture data on potential illegal alien registrants.

For instance, in an April 28, 2023, email obtained by the Oversight Project, SSS acting Director Brown noted that "undocumented immigrants are by definition not giving data. We get info on every male trying to legit stay in the country."

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News, "I have no idea how they plan on automatically registering so-called undocumented immigrants into the Selective Service. Given the fact that the DOJ seems not to care about charging the hordes of military-aged male illegal aliens who came in during the Biden administration with failure to register, which could put them in jail for up to five years, I doubt that it's been considered in much detail or is even on the radar."

Blaze News has reached out to the SSS for comment.

According to an SSS report to Congress, the registration rate for eligible men in 2024 was 81%. The report suggested that automating the process might help bolster registration rates.

Failure to register for the draft is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or five years in prison. An individual who "knowingly counsels, aids, or abets" another person not to comply with the requirement can be slapped with the same penalties.

Failure to register could also jeopardize immigrants' U.S. citizenship, preclude offenders from receiving state-funded financial aid and job training, and cause ineligibility for various federal employment opportunities.

Editor's note: Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.

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